Friday, September 9, 2016

2nd Vote is quite confused about what constitutes a protected class

2nd Vote is trying to make an issue out of an Albertsons employee who refused to make a cake with the words “Trump 2016” I would discipline the employee for her abysmal stupidity. However, Trump's supporters are not a protected class. Attempting to compare this to bakers refusing wedding cakes to gay couples in defiance of local nondiscrimination ordinances is spectacularly stupid. Doing so has become the leitmotif of anti-gay conservative Christians. They write:

However, other cake bakers have had their livelihoods destroyed by liberal LGBT activists for refusing to do business in ways that would violate their beliefs and values. In Oregon, the persecution of the owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa was coordinated by a HRC supported organization, Basic Rights Oregon. The ACLU even filed a lawsuit in Colorado against the owners of Masterpiece Cakeshop.

Not surprisingly, the situation with Albertsons doesn’t exactly advance the HRC and ACLU agenda to punish those who believe that marriage exists only between one man and one woman. But, it does illustrate the left’s hypocrisy when it comes to creating faux-controversies over cakes.

There is nothing “faux” about the laws that these supposed victims violated. Every one of these people has lost every single round at every hearing board or court; at trial and on appeal. There are no religious exemptions to otherwise valid laws. I cannot find a law that compels anyone to do anything for a Trump supporter. He or she is not part of a historically persecuted minority. The false comparison is offensive.

2nd Vote maintains a negative-image version of the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index. It is incoherent … disorganized. For example, Intel scores 1 out of a possible five in every category except religious liberty where it is scored 3. Yet, under Religious Liberty they write:

In 2016, Intel partnered with Human Rights Campaign (HRC) to oppose religious liberty protections in Mississippi. HRC is the largest organization opposing religious freedom protections, Accessed 8/29/16.
Intel is a member of a business coalition supporting passage of the Equality Act, which advocates for sweeping sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) protections at the federal level and undermines 1st Amendment protections for religious liberty, Accessed 8/29/16.

Sounds like they deserve a 1 to me. Back in July, that was how it was scored. A less egregious AMD scores a 1 for religious liberty. They note:

AMD is a member of a business coalition supporting passage of the Equality Act, Accessed 8/12/16.
The Equality Act advocates for sweeping sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) protections at the federal level and undermines 1st Amendment protections for religious liberty, Accessed 8/12/16.

By the way 2nd Vote is a sponsor of this weekend's hatefest at the Values Voter Summit.